Condenser



B. P. DAWES May 23, 1950 CONDENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 25, 1944STEAM INLET WATER INLET WATER OUTLET INVENTOR. Bfl/LE P! DAWES,

CONDENSR E HTTORNEVS.

May 23, 1950 p; DAWES 2,508,815

CONDENSER Filed Sept. 25, 1944 3 Sheets Sheet 3 oo 0 o o o 0 0300.0 0 00 1N VEN TOR. 50/1. 5y P. D0 W55 5% MSM arr-arms v4",

Patenieci May 23,

eaisily' serviceu'and repalre 7. W th efl t. conventmnar q t 59, P ic no dlx dwmififi 8,@= ?"i ,1 la i ztgr forming the central portion of saidbottom L-r u s 9 five; T is g w i ar itrt landi a ingfs may iii ealblhgioup 9r riatiofi's are possible ms will b latr ea k i a bm i d he;

3 so that the ends of each tube, exclusive of the spines, will lit ineach opening 15.

At the ends of tubes If that are opposite each plate It are separateplates 58 respectively formed with openings ll (Figs. 5, 6, 8). Oneplate it is provided for each group of tubes. The plates [8 areoutwardly of wall 3, while plates l3 are inside wall 4. The marginalportions of plates I8 extend a sufiicient distance over the marginalportions of slot it to form a tight seal between said plates and saidwall upon the latter being moved into tight engagement with a gasket l9positioned between each plate and wall 3.

Between adjacent pairs of openings 9 in plate 4 are bolt openings 2| forbolts 22 that are adapted to threadedly engage in registering openings23 in plates 16 (Figs. 7, 8). Thus upon tightening the nuts 24 on saidbolts the plates 56 will be drawn toward end wall 4 and gasket 20 willprovide a fluid tight seal between the plate and wall.

Wall 3 is formed with rows of spaced, threaded openings 25 (Fig. 6)between adjacent pairs of the plates l8 that are in superposedrelationship. Bolts 25 are threadedly secured in said openings 25, whichbolts have nuts 2'5 thereon that function to tightly draw the adjacentpairs of plates l8 toward wall 3 so that gasket 19 will form a fluidtight seal between said plates and wall 3. Relatively narrow strips 33at the upper and lower ends of the vertical rows of plates I8 providemeans for engagement by the nuts 2i that engage the uppermost andlowermost plates 18 in said vertical rows along the outermost edgesthereof, as best seen in Fig. 6 and Fig. 3.

From the above it will be seen that each of the separate groups of tubesH is a unit with a plate [6 at one end of the tubes and a plate I8 atthe opposite end that function to hold the tubes together in proper sideby side relationship for handling as a unit. The withdrawal of any groupof tubes is quickly effected by removing the nuts 24 and 2i that secureany particular group in place, after which the group, including plateI6, is withdrawn through a slot iii in end wall 3. Inasmuch as eachtube, even in a condenser of large capacity, is only several feet long,there is no difliculty in effecting the desired removal of anyparticular group of tubes or of all the tubes or any number of groupsthereof.

To facilitate the insertion and withdrawal of groups of tubes a pair oftracks 3i (Figs. 1, 5, 6) is provided, each of which may be a strip ofangle iron on one leg 32 of which the opposite outer tubes of each groupmay be supported While the other leg 33 may extend alongside each of thesaid outer tubes. The upper and lower edges of each plate l6 areparallel and the ends are curved to correspond with a circular linedefining the outline of the outer ends of the spines l2 in directiontransversely of the axis of each tube, therefore said plate will alsoslide on said tracks upon insertion or withdrawal of a group of tubesfrom the condenser. It is particularly desirable that each plate USshould be sure to slide on each pair of tracks provided thereforinasmuch as the track functions also to guide the plates l6 to wall 4for registration of bolts 23 with openings 9.

The tubes ll of each group are preferably arranged so that the adjacentouter ends of the spines l2 of adjacent pairs of tubes in each groupshould be in substantially adjoining relationship, although the groupsthemselves may be spaced apart for the tracks 3|. ne of the ends oftracks 36 is secured to wall 3 while the opposite ends may be secured tovertical strips 35 (Fig. 8), said strips being slightly spaced from wall4 and supported at their lower ends on projections 36 that are on wall4. This enables longitudinal expansion and contraction of the trackswithout influencing the walls 3, 4. Inasmuch as the tubes carry acooling medium, such as water, the tracks will become appreciably hotterthan the tubes which makes the above structure important where tracksare employed. The gasket 23 (Fig. 5) is slightly compressible under anylongitudinal expansion of the tubes themselves, therefore noobjectionable strain occurs by reason of such expansion, and gasket l9may function for relieving any possible strain due to contraction of thetubes longitudinally. With respect to said expansion and contraction ofthe tubes, it is pertinent to note that even in installations of largecapacity the tubes are only from two to three feet in length and carrythe cooling medium.

Extending across the upper portion of plate 4 and over openings 9 is aninlet header 3'! for whatever coolant is used, such as water, saidheader being formed with an inlet opening 33 and having a closure 39bolted thereto with bolts 4H for quick removal of said closure andaccess to nuts 24 upon removal of said closure without interfering withthe connections of inlet pipe 4! with the header.

Extending across the lower portion of plate 4 and over the remainingopenings 9 other than those covered by the upper header is an outletheader 42 having an outlet 43. A closure 44 is removably secured onheader 42 by bolts 45 so that quick removal of said closure may beaccomplished for the same reason as given relative to the upper header.Outlet pipe 46 may remain connected while the desired nuts 24 areremoved.

Extending across the plate 3 and over all of the tube openings that openoutwardly of said plate is a single header 4'! that functions as areturn bend for coolant passing through the pipes fed from header 3'!for return of such coolant to header 42.

At any desirable point within the housing and spaced above sump 8 is ashroud or air trap in the form of an inverted generally U-shaped member48 (Figs. 3, '7) that extends between walls 3, 4 and over certaincentral groups of tubes. The opposed sides of this member extenddownwardly between the adjacent pairs of tracks 3| that are at oppositesides of the said central groups of tubes (Fig. '7) and an outletconduit 49 leads outwardly from the said member through side wall 2 ofthe housing (Fig. 1).

Condensate that drains into sump 3 may be pumped or drained from thelatter through conduit 50 and baffies 5| (Fig. 3) may extendtransversely across said sump if desired.

The general manner in which the condenser functions as a steam condenseris obvious. The steam entering through inlet '1 is immediately in heattransfer relation to the coolant flowing through the pipes H from header3?. At this point the widest divergence exists between the temperatureof the coolant or pipes and the steam inasmuch as the steam is hottestand the coolant coolest. By the time the steam and whatever condensatemay have formed reaches the tubes returning the coolant to outlet header42 the temperatures are more nearly equalized. This direction of flow ofthe coolant may be said to be generally concurrent to the flow of thesteam in that both flows are generally in the same direction, and saidgenerally concurrent flow is desirable in most instances over theopposite or reverse flow in which the inlet and out let 38, 43 arereversed.

In actual practice with a condenser in which the housing is only aboutthirty inches in each dimension about seven thousand pounds of steam at266 F. may be condensed per hour with water at the inlet header of about77 F. moving through the tubes at about six feet per second and in anamount of about 3200 lbs. per minute. These results may obviously varyas temperature conditions vary and as the pressures vary, but insofar asI am aware, the invention herein disclosed has an increase in efiiciencyof conventional condensers of from about fifty to about one hundred percent.

One of the features that appears to have an appreciable bearing on theincreased efficiency of the condenser herein described is the provisionof means providing not only separate paths of travel for the condensateon the heat transfer surfaces, but also the provision of points fromwhich the innumerable droplets of condensate may form and drop on theoutside of the tubes carrying the coolant. Most condensers pass thesteam through the tubes and the coolant over the outer sides of thetubes.

The extended heat transfer surface afforded by the spines I2 is believedto also have an appreciable bearing on the accomplishment of theimproved results and their arrangement in each group insures a directheat transfer relationship between the steam and the spines as well asbetween the condensate and spines in the final run of tubes in the lowerportion of the housing.

The arrangement of the tubes in groups whereby any one of the groups maybe readily withdrawn from one end of the housing is of great benefit inthat a defective tube or packing may be quickly replaced without burningaway any welding or the like, and the compactness of the groups Of tubespermits the carrying of extra tubes without inconvenience, and thedefective tubes, if any, can be quickly serviced or repaired at leisureas an ordinary shop job.

It is to be understood that the drawings and description are merelyillustrative of a preferred form of the invention and are not to beconsidered restrictive thereof.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A heat transfer device comprising a housing having an inlet in onewall thereof for a fluid, a tortuous conduit for another fluid having aplurality of straight lengths thereof extending between two opposedwalls of said housing, an inlet and an outlet for said last mentionedfluid at opposite ends of said tortuous conduit, means removablysecuring said straight lengths at their ends to said opposed walls insealing relation with the latter, said opposed Walls being formed withspaced openings for the said ends of said lengths, said lengths of saidconduit being arranged in separate groups and separate means outwardlyof one of said opposed walls rigidly securing the tubes of each of saidseparate groups together, one of the ends of the said straight lengthsof each group extending through one of each of the openings in the walladjacent said last mentioned means whereby each group may be withdrawnfrom the housing through each of said last mentioned openings as a unit,tracks within said housing for slidably supporting said lengths duringsuch withdrawal and for aligning the opposite ends of said straightlengths with the openings formed in the other of said opposed Walls.

2. A heat transfer device comprising a housing having opposed end walls,opposed side walls, and a top and a bottom wall, a plurality of parallelopen-ended tubes extending between said end walls, means between saidend walls and at one of the ends of said tubes securing certain of saidends together in separable groups and removably securing said groups tothe end wall adjacent thereto, means outwardly of the other end wall atthe opposite ends of said tubes securing the tubes of each of saidgroups together separate from the other groups and removably securingsaid tubes to the said other end wall, said last mentioned end wallbeing formed with openings through which said groups of tubes may bewithdrawn upon releasing said last mentioned means from said other endwall, said groups being in superposed relationship, and means supportingeach of said groups for sliding through said openings independently ofthe other groups.

BAILEY P. DAWES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 403,799 Tucker May 21, 1889722,627 Richmond Mar. 10, 1903 1,812,591 Grace June 30, 1931 1,875,142Price Aug. 30, 1932 1,884,080 Miller Oct. 25, 1932 1,894,284 Smith Jan.1'7, 1933 1,957,779 I-Ioppes May 8, 1934 2,047,459 Chamayou July 14,1936 2,247,243 Kritzer June 24, 1941 2,256,882 Sebald Sept. 23, 19412,292,524 Jacocks Aug. 11, 1942 2,298,154 Pennella Oct. 6, 19422,313,052 Dean Mar. 9, 1943

